In this book DADA is concentrated on magical creatures, but I have to wonder how many of these creatures are common enough to warrant in-depth education?
Note that in book 7 the kids spent months in the countryside without running into any of them. IMO all of the magical creatures in the UK are either on the premises of magical households (including outdoor areas), Diagon/Knockturn Alleys, and the Hogwarts/Hogsmeade area.
Indeed, it's hard to take Lupin's lessons (or COMC lessons for that matter) seriously when creatures that you are supposed to defend yourself from/take care of almost extinct.
The DADA curriculum includes knowing the difference between a wolf and a werewolf. The correct answer should be 'if you see it in the UK outside of a zoo, check the astronomical calendar'. Forget about snout length and what not. There are no wild wolves in the UK and there haven't been in a long time.
Dumbledore gives Harry misinformation about the Prank at the end of Philosopher's Stone - at least he says that James saved Snape's life. I suppose it's possible that at that stage JKR hadn't worked out the details about Lupin being involved.
If it was already planned, perhaps nearing transformation makes Lupin more wolf-like, so he doesn't actually care about anyone outside his pack (which includes Harry), and Snape probably smells like 'prey'.
Or Lupin just enjoys a bit of passive aggression - which we see elsewhere.
Oh, I'm quite sure Remus' passive-aggressiveness' play a role here. Heck, this book is one big experiment on Remus' part just how much he can push before he gets a slap on a hand.
I'm just wondering how much in this scene DADA curse influences Lupin and how much of his behaviour is his free will.
>"'That suggests that what you fear most of all is - fear. Very wise, Harry.'"… excuse me, but what the fuck? Being afraid of soul-sucking monstrosities doesn't mean you are afraid of fear. It means that our hero had a close encounter with it and is traumatized. It's like after almost being eaten by a shark you refused to go swimming in the area know for shark sightings and the other person says "Bro, you are just aquaphobic!" +2 to LOL
>I swear Remus goes around spewing total bullshit and fandom latches on it in the most ridiculous fashion.
Everything Remus says needs to be taken with a grain of salt. The fandom doesn't seem to notice that Remus is a big People Pleaser. What he says is colored by what he thinks the person wants to hear, what will make his listener happy and like him.
I wonder how much of his people-pleasing is subconscious behaviour. Because his behaviour during drinking wolfbane potion makes him look very manipulative. "‘Professor Snape’s very interested in the Dark Arts,’ he blurted out.
‘Really?’ said Lupin, looking only mildly interested as he took another gulp of potion.
‘Some people reckon -’ Harry hesitated, then plunged recklessly on, ‘some people reckon he’d do anything to get the Defence Against the Dark Arts job.’
Lupin drained the goblet and pulled a face.
‘Disgusting,’ he said. ‘Well, Harry, I’d better get back to work. I’ll see you at the feast later.’
‘Right,’ said Harry, putting his empty teacup down.
The empty goblet was still smoking."
For that matter, I wonder how different was Remus from Peter back in the Marauder days. After all, from brief scenes we get in books, Peter was peopel-pleasing hang-on.
I think Sirius claims that Remus sometimes gave them talking-tos that made them "heartily ashamed" of their behavior... but it can't have been all that often, or effective. And we saw that he wouldn't go so far as to tell them to stop in the moment. Hm. The gang did seem to like thinking of themselves as good guys. I wonder if they liked having someone who occasionally told them they were going too far, because then they could feel like they'd considered the moral angle and decided they were okay. And then when Remus didn't object most of the time, why, that was evidence that yes, they really were okay. He'd have told them if they weren't
( ... )
"The fandom doesn't seem to notice that Remus is a big People Pleaser."
The fandom loves People Pleasers, as long as the people being pleased are Harry and his chosen cronies. Lupin's carelessness almost gets a lot of people (including Harry) killed, and he's everyone's favorite teacher. Snape saves Harry's life multiple times, but he doesn't treat Harry and his pals like God's gift to wizardkind, so he's deeply horrible.
The patched robes and chipped cups seem a lot like JKR porting over real-world stuff without thinking through how magic might affect it all. We Muggles might have to make do with chipped teacups (which I could see being either ones Remus brought or school-provided ones that have been knocking about in the cupboard for fifty years), but wizards have some very simple spells to fix things like that. Robes might be harder, if wizarding tailors put anti-magical-alterations spells on them to force customers to bring them in for repairs... but we never hear of such spells. And you'd think that would only apply to new robes, anyway, not second-hand ones (which is presumably what he wears
( ... )
A new theory: during his work as a magical exterminator, Remus managed to piss off some kind of fey based creature and ended up being cursed. Some kind of bad luck curse, so no matter how much he repairs his teacups he always manages to chip them. Usually in the most ridiculous way
( ... )
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Note that in book 7 the kids spent months in the countryside without running into any of them. IMO all of the magical creatures in the UK are either on the premises of magical households (including outdoor areas), Diagon/Knockturn Alleys, and the Hogwarts/Hogsmeade area.
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If it was already planned, perhaps nearing transformation makes Lupin more wolf-like, so he doesn't actually care about anyone outside his pack (which includes Harry), and Snape probably smells like 'prey'.
Or Lupin just enjoys a bit of passive aggression - which we see elsewhere.
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I'm just wondering how much in this scene DADA curse influences Lupin and how much of his behaviour is his free will.
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>I swear Remus goes around spewing total bullshit and fandom latches on it in the most ridiculous fashion.
Everything Remus says needs to be taken with a grain of salt. The fandom doesn't seem to notice that Remus is a big People Pleaser. What he says is colored by what he thinks the person wants to hear, what will make his listener happy and like him.
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Because his behaviour during drinking wolfbane potion makes him look very manipulative.
"‘Professor Snape’s very interested in the Dark Arts,’ he blurted out.
‘Really?’ said Lupin, looking only mildly interested as he took another gulp of potion.
‘Some people reckon -’ Harry hesitated, then plunged recklessly on, ‘some people reckon he’d do anything to get the Defence Against the Dark Arts job.’
Lupin drained the goblet and pulled a face.
‘Disgusting,’ he said. ‘Well, Harry, I’d better get back to work. I’ll see you at the feast later.’
‘Right,’ said Harry, putting his empty teacup down.
The empty goblet was still smoking."
For that matter, I wonder how different was Remus from Peter back in the Marauder days. After all, from brief scenes we get in books, Peter was peopel-pleasing hang-on.
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The fandom loves People Pleasers, as long as the people being pleased are Harry and his chosen cronies. Lupin's carelessness almost gets a lot of people (including Harry) killed, and he's everyone's favorite teacher. Snape saves Harry's life multiple times, but he doesn't treat Harry and his pals like God's gift to wizardkind, so he's deeply horrible.
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